New Entrance Award for JD Students

November 23, 2018

The team at Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP in front of a portrait of Jack Giles Q.C.

The Allard School of Law at UBC is very pleased to announce a gift of $100,000 from Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP to establish an endowed award in honour of Jack Giles, Q.C. The award will be available to students entering the JD program with preference given to students who have demonstrated a keen interest in advocacy through student government, community involvement or other activities.

“Our firm was looking for a meaningful way to pay tribute to Jack and the leadership he provided to the profession,” said Jeffrey J. Kay, Q.C., Managing Partner. “The award is a perfect fit as it will support law students who have a passion for advocacy and in doing so honour Jack’s legacy and commitment in this area. Jack’s commitment was expressed not only in his work for clients but also through the service he provided to the legal community and beyond.”

After receiving his law degree from UBC in 1959, Jack Giles appeared for almost 50 years as trial and appellate counsel in courts throughout Canada, in virtually all areas of the law, as well as appearing before federal and provincial tribunals. Both in practice and through his roles in numerous professional and other organizations throughout his distinguished career, he was a leader in advocating a number of important matters, including access to justice, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, civility to fellow members of the Bar and the independence of the Bar.

“We are honoured to establish this award in memory of such an outstanding alumnus and member of the legal community,” said Dean Catherine Dauvergne. “Farris LLP has a strong tradition of supporting the law school and we are grateful to the firm for this generous gift which will benefit students at the Allard School of Law for generations to come.”

In addition to this new commitment, Farris LLP generously donated a $1 million leadership gift to the law school’s building project. The firm has also supported a number of initiatives including the Mitchell H. Gropper, Q.C. Law Faculty Exchange program with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Farris Research Award and annual lecture in the areas of business law and advocacy in memory of C. Francis (Frank) Murphy, Q.C. and Peter W. Butler, Q.C., former partners of the firm. Farris LLP generously supports a number of ongoing student awards at the Allard School of Law including the Farris Entrance Award in Law and the Christopher Walker Memorial Award in Law.

We are grateful to Farris LLP for their support of and commitment to the Allard School of Law at UBC.